Paper sheet perforator



April 1966 N. R. ROBBINS PAPER SHEET PERFORATOR Filed Dec. 23, 1963INVENTOR. NEAL R. ROBBINS.

A TTOR/VE'Y.

United States Patent 3,247,747 PAPER SHEET PERFORATOR Neal R. Robbins,Ypsilanti, Mich, assignor to Burroughs Corporation, Detroit, Mich, acorporation of Michigan Filed Dec. 23, 1963, Ser. No. 332,669 1 @lahn.((31. 815-629) This invention relates generally to sheet handlingapparatus and particularly to a sheet perforating device.

a with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a paper perforator, embodyingfeatures of the invention;

FIG. 2 is another vertical cross sectional view of the perforator, takenalong the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view, taken along the line 3-3 of FIG.1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view in perspective of the perforator; and

FIG. 5 is a front fragmentary view of a sheet or record card havingperforations made by the perforator of FIGS. 1 to 4.

Referring to the drawing by characters of reference, the numeraldesignates in general a paper perforator shown mounted behind a sheetguideway 12, by means of a mounting member or bracket 14. The guideway12 may be the guideway for record sheets of a business machine of thetype having automatic line find mechanism (not shown) to stop thefeeding of a sheet 16 at a position corresponding to the location in thesheet of a line designating perforation 18, the last perforation made byperforator 10. For a more complete understanding of a line findmechanism, reference may be made to my copending application, Serial No.116,434, filed June 12, 1961, for Front Feed Apparatus for BookkeepingMachines.

In the present construction, the mounting bracket 14 is made of asuitable plastic material formed to provide a lower housing or body 20having front and rear walls 22 and 24 respectively which in part definean opening 25 which extends through the body 20. Mounted on theunderside of the housing 20 is the sheet perforator 10, which overliesthe lower end of the opening 25. The perforator 10 comprises a base 26and a reciprocal perforator blade 28. The base 26 is in the form of aplate having its upper face recessed end to end, as at 30, to provide achannel-like slideway for the perforator blade 28. One end of the blade28 is pointed to provide a paper piercing tool 32 which is preferablynormally retracted within the slideway of base 26, as shown, for

example, in FIG. 3. A retaining plate 34 is provided for the perforatorblade 28 and seats flat on the upper surfaces of the base plate 26, andthe retaining and base plates are secured to the underside of housing 20by screws 36.

Carried by the perforator blade 28 on the upper surface thereof is agear rack 38 which projects upwardly through a clearance slot 40 in theretainer plate 34 to 3,247,741 Patented Apr. 26, 1966 mesh with a gearsegment 42. A pair of connector pins 44 integral with and depending fromthe underside of the gear rack 38 removably connect the gear rack andperforator blade 34 for movement together. As shown, the pins 44 arepreferably rectangular in cross section and extend respectively throughand fit closely in a pair of rectangular holes 46 which are provided inthe blade 28 in spaced apart relation longitudinally thereof. A slot 48in the recessed wall 30 of the base 26 receives lower end portions ofthe coupling pins 44 which are guided by the sides of the slot to lendstability to the sliding action of the rack 38.

The gear segment 42 is aflixed to a shaft 50 that is supported by thebracket 14 in aligned bushings 52 secured in the bracket. An arm 54affixed to shaft 50 may be connected by a link 55 to any suitableactuator, such as a solenoid (not shown). A spring 56 may be provided tobias the gear segment 42 to the position shown in FIG. 1, or thenormally retracted position of the perforator blade 28. It will beapparent that when the arm 54 is pivoted clockwise, gear segment 42 Willbe pivoted in like direction and through gear rack 38, move the bladeleftward to pierce sheet 16. The inner face, as at 58, of side wall 22stops rotation of gear segment 42 in a clockwise direction, FIG. 1, andthe inner face 60 of the opposite side wall 24 stops rotation of thegear segment in a counterclockwise direction.

While I have shown and described my sheet perforator in considerabledetail, it will be understood that many changes and modifications may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

A paper perforating device comprising a housing having a bottom wall andopposite side walls, a shaft journaled for oscillation on said sidewalls, a gear segment affixed to said shaft and disposed within saidhousing, a removable base plate forming in part said bottom wall beneathsaid gear, said base plate having an upwardly facing recess defining aslideway extending transversely to the axis of said shaft and having aguide slot in the .recessed surface extending longitudinally of saidslideway, a paper piercing blade received and slidably guided by saidslideway, said blade having a pair of longitudinally spaced apartapertures in overlying relation to said guide slot, a gear rack seatingon said blade within said housing in mesh with said gear segment, a pairof connector pins carried by said gear rack and extending respectivelythrough said apertures into said guide slot to connect said gear rack tosaid blade, a spring urging said gear segment against one of saidhousing side walls and yieldingly holding said blade in a retractedposition within said housing, a retainer plate interposed between saidbase plate and said housing having a clearance slot to receive said gearrack with margins on opposite sides of the clearance slot overlying saidblade, and means securing said retainer plate and said base platetogether and to said housing.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,613,359 1/1927Peters 30-272 1,817,428 8/1931 Takamatsu 83-629 2,435,628 2/ 1948 Jarman83-629 3,043,586 7/1962 Boule 83-629 FOREIGN PATENTS 93,608 8/ 1897Germany.

WILLIAM W. DYER, JR., Primary Examiner. I. L. SEITCHIK, AssistantExaminer.

